--- title: Don Larsen's Perfect Game: Remembering the 1956 World Series No-Hitter description: LIFE.com remembers Don Larsen's Oct. 8, 1956, masterpiece at Yankee Stadium -- the only no-hitter in World Series history. canonical: https://time.com/3881128/don-larsen-perfect-game-october-8-1956/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-07T10:53:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:35.745Z og:title: Don Larsen's Perfect Game: Remembering the 1956 World Series No-Hitter og:description: LIFE.com remembers Don Larsen's Oct. 8, 1956, masterpiece at Yankee Stadium -- the only no-hitter in World Series history. og:url: https://time.com/3881128/don-larsen-perfect-game-october-8-1956/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt337f107234036cb3/69884ab75f570fbddab1aef0/958192.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Don Larsen, Perfect Game, 1956 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Don Larsen's Perfect Game: Remembering the 1956 World Series No-Hitter twitter:description: LIFE.com remembers Don Larsen's Oct. 8, 1956, masterpiece at Yankee Stadium -- the only no-hitter in World Series history. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt337f107234036cb3/69884ab75f570fbddab1aef0/958192.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 27 Up, 27 Down: Remembering Don Larsen's 1956 Perfect Game > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=05904e5a-dd6e-4cde-b3f8-5d8d95dd57bf&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Weekdays | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Weekly | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Twice a week | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | Source: TIME, August 2026. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=05904e5a-dd6e-4cde-b3f8-5d8d95dd57bf&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=05904e5a-dd6e-4cde-b3f8-5d8d95dd57bf&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (health, weekdays), Worth Your Time (culture, weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=05904e5a-dd6e-4cde-b3f8-5d8d95dd57bf&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Oct 7, 2014 10:53 AM UTC  Don Larsen pitching during his World Series perfect game against the Dodgers, Oct. 8, 1956. Don Larsen pitching during his World Series perfect game against the Dodgers, Oct. 8, 1956. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Oct 7, 2014 10:53 AM UTC In the long, long history of professional baseball, across tens of thousands of games, there have been fewer than 300 no-hitters. Perfect games, in which no batter even reaches first base, are even rarer: fewer than two dozen in the past 100 years. And with the exception of one man, the Yankees’ Don Larsen, no one has ever thrown a no-hitter in a World Series game. Here, on the anniversary of that feat—a feat made all the more extraordinary in light of Larsen’s otherwise unspectacular career—LIFE.com remembers. In baseball terms, the magnitude of Larsen’s no-hitter is hard to overstate. That it had never been done before in a World Series and has never been matched since is astonishing enough in a game where records fall and career-defining moments occur with dizzying frequency. But that Larsen hurled a _perfect_ game against a team as jam-packed with talent and power as the ’56 Brooklyn Dodgers boggles the mind. Reese, Snider, Robinson, Campanella, Hodges, Furillo—these are names that baseball fans still utter with something close to reverence. And Don Larsen, of all people—not a superstar pitcher, but a workmanlike hurler—shut them down. The fans, the press, his peers—everyone who knew and loved baseball (including Larsen himself) was dumbfounded. “If Nolan Ryan had done it, if Sandy Koufax had done it, if Don Drysdale had done it, I would have nodded and said, ‘Well, it could happen,'” long-time Yankees public address announcer announcer Bob Sheppard (a.k.a., the Voice of God) once said. “But _Don Larsen_?” The intensity of the competition between the Yankees and the Dodgers—and, for years, the “other” New York team, the Giants—makes many of today’s over-hyped sports rivalries feel tame. In the 1950s alone, the Yankees won six World Series (three against Brooklyn, one against the Giants); Brooklyn won one (against the Yankees); the Giants won one (in 1954—one of the few years that neither the Yanks nor the Dodgers made it to the Fall Classic). This, then, was the atmosphere in which Don Larsen took the mound on that fall day six decades ago. Game 5 of the 1956 Series was more than a baseball contest; it was another chapter in a long, storied struggle between two teams filled with some of the best players the game has ever seen. Larsen, who pitched without a windup, needed only 97 pitches to retire 27 batters. In the bottom of the ninth, with the crowd of 64,519 going crazy, he threw Dodger pinch-hitter Dale Mitchell a high fastball. In fact, most of the players on the field at the time felt that it might have been too high. But home plate umpire Babe Pinelli, working the very last game of a remarkable 21-year career, called it a strike. Mitchell argued the point—but it was all over. Don Larsen had thrown the first, and still the only, no-hitter in World Series history. (The Yankees went on the take the Series, 4 games to 3.) “Last night I was a bum,” LIFE reported Larsen murmuring incredulously in the hours after his perfect game, “and tonight everybody wants to meet me.” After his brief, heady brush with fame subsided, Larsen’s career in the years following the ’56 Series was one of gradually dimming lights. He did win another Series ring with the Yankees in 1958 but, in true journeyman fashion, he would play for five more teams over the next 10 years. When he retired in 1967, his career won-loss record was a ho-hum 81-91—although his strong World Series record of 4-2 with an ERA of 2.75 suggests that the cool customer who chatted up his teammates in the dugout during his Game 5 perfect game truly relished the big stage. “They can never break my record,” Larsen once said of his World Series perfect game. “The best they can do is tie it.” Almost 60 years later, baseball is still waiting for someone, anyone, to do just that. In the meantime, the sport and its fans are still celebrating Larsen’s improbable masterpiece. --- ---  Don Larsen pitching during his World Series perfect game against the Dodgers, Oct. 8, 1956. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3881128/don-larsen-perfect-game-october-8-1956/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3881128/don-larsen-perfect-game-october-8-1956/"},"headline":"27 Up, 27 Down: Remembering Don Larsen's 1956 Perfect Game","datePublished":"2014-10-07T10:53:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:35.745Z","description":"With one notable exception, no one has ever thrown a no-hitter in a World Series game. Here, on the anniversary of his October 1956 perfect game, LIFE remembers Don Larsen's masterpiece.","url":"https://time.com/3881128/don-larsen-perfect-game-october-8-1956/","keywords":["Culture","Baseball","New York Yankees","world series","george silk","1956"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt337f107234036cb3/69884ab75f570fbddab1aef0/958192.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt337f107234036cb3/69884ab75f570fbddab1aef0/958192.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Don Larsen, Perfect Game, 1956","caption":"Don Larsen pitching at Yankee Stadium during his World Series perfect game against the Dodgers, Oct. 8, 1956.","creditText":"George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/culture/","name":"Culture"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3881128/don-larsen-perfect-game-october-8-1956/","name":"27 Up, 27 Down: Remembering Don Larsen's 1956 Perfect Game"}}]}] ```